Aileen, Third Year Psychology Student

Hello world, I'm Aileen, a college student studying Psychology with a field of interest in Behavioral Neuroscience.

I live in Los Angeles, California.

Coffee or tea? Coffee.

What's your guilty pleasure? Makeup.

What's one thing you thought you knew at the beginning of your career/school that you now understand differently? As a college student attending, I initially had difficulty with feelings of insecurity on an academic level. I often compared myself to my classmates and blamed myself for not being on their level. Oftentimes, I felt ashamed when I was unable to approach a problem or was not fast enough in solving it compared to other students. I eventually realized that comparing myself to others was not only impairing my mental health but also impairing my academic ability.

"It was in college that I learned that it is absolutely okay to feel lost at times."

Rather than being fixated on what others were doing and how they were doing it, I began focusing on myself. I became more forgiving with myself. I took the time I needed and used any available resources to their fullest potential. It was in college that I learned that it is absolutely okay to feel lost at times. What matters, most importantly, is what you can do to improve your situation.

In my experience, I fueled feelings of doubt into motivation. For example, instead of blaming myself about a topic I was not so confident about in class, I made sure to do extra research outside of school and even go to the professor for extra clarification. I also became more inspired by people and every aspect in life that allowed for improving myself. When I first started college, I didn’t think being in a competitive environment would have an effect on me. As a third-year student, I realize that perspective and how you choose to feel is correlated to later actions in life.

What's in your Daame bag? Laptop, passion planner, hydro flask, calculator, i-clicker (for school), calculus notebook, wallet, and book (Musicophilia - Oliver Sacks).

What do you like about your Daame bag? I enjoy everything about my Daame bag. I appreciate the practicality and versatility of this bag. I especially enjoy the fact that the design of the bag is so simple yet really adds a statement to whatever outfit you are wearing. I love the fact that it carries my essentials for college. Oftentimes when I don't want to carry a backpack to school, I always opt for my Daame bag because it looks elegant in a non flashy way. I also like the engineering of the bag, specifically the sleeves. It makes grabbing everything super easy. It also allows you to stay organized, which is fantastic, especially for a college student. Overall I think this bag is superb because of its functionality. It gets the job done.

Check out Aileen's Midi laptop tote ›

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